Out-Law News 1 min. read
23 Mar 2016, 10:28 am
London & Quadrant has taken over the project from housing developer Bellway plc. Bellway has owned the 179 hectare site since 1994 but the project did not progress owing to poor public transport links.
The housing association plans to invest £70 million in the transport infrastructure. The £263m London Overground Barking Riverside extension has now received full funding and it is expected to complete in 2021. The housing association has the possibility to use £55m from the homes and communities agency's large sites infrastructure fund should they need to.
Barking has already seen the construction of 1,500 new homes but these are currently isolated from the capital.
The joint venture hopes to construct 600 new homes each year; this rate will accelerate in order to complete the proposal over the next 12 years. The redevelopment will allocate 30% of the new homes as affordable housing with the remaining being sold or rented at market rate. The proposal also includes 65,000 square metres of commercial space and up to five new schools.
London & Quadrant now owns a 51% stake in the project but Bellway has retained the option to build out part of the sites.
Planning expert Richard Ford of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "We are increasingly seeing joint ventures on the larger schemes across London. We are seeing more of these in opportunity areas, in particular, with housing associations becoming ever prominent in the market as their business model evolves following the right to buy and starter homes changing their market".